


Philosophy Of Smiling

by CherryBerryKomainu



Category: Hazbin Hotel (Web Series)
Genre: Abuse, Acceptance, Agreeing to Disagree, Alastor has no sense of personal space, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angel Dust learns what a healthy relationship is, Asexual Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, Bullying, Canon-Typical Violence, Charlie has a limit and it is pushed, Charlie tries really hard, Death, Depression, Differing philosophies, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Friendship, Healthy Coping Mechanisms, Healthy Relationships, Hell, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Sex, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Kinda, M/M, Mental Abuse, Multi, Murder, Musical, Not really a crossover but Helluva Boss characters are sometimes here, OCs - Freeform, Personal Growth, Personal space issues, Philosophy, Physical Abuse, Power Imbalance, Recovery, Self-Harm, Self-Worth, Self-Worth Issues, Seriously every chapter has a song, Setting Boundaries, Slow Burn, So many tags, Songfic, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Trust Issues, Understanding, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Unhealthy Relationships, Vaggie is tired, Vaggie won’t hesitate, Violence, Yet another OC/Alastor story, emotional breakdowns, mental breakdowns, self-respect, total breakdowns, violent breakdowns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-06
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:40:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21689998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CherryBerryKomainu/pseuds/CherryBerryKomainu
Summary: Smiling, is generally done to show happiness, when you laugh you smile, it is the ultimate sign of joy. Frowning is the opposite.To Alastor, it is the ultimate sign of power, to smile no matter what may happen, never faltering, that is the most powerful thing in the world. So naturally, to him, frowning is a sign of weakness.Ritefuyo Shirokō grew up knowing that to smile, is to invite misfortune and ill will, it is a sign that one has something to be broken. A frown, on the other hand, means you have nothing, and if you have nothing, no one will try to rob you. Smiling, to her, was bad luck, a curse.Discuss.
Relationships: Alastor (Hazbin Hotel)/Original Character(s), Alastor/Red Velvet Cake, Charlie Magne/Vaggie, Minor Blitzo/Jane Doe, More tags to be added - Relationship, Ritefuyo Shirokō/Alastor
Comments: 5
Kudos: 40





	1. Would You Rather

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by the wonderful Dapper Dresser fic by the lovely Brooke, an Alastor/reader fic that I highly recommend.
> 
> Song sung is Would You Rather By Crusher-P
> 
> Every chapter has a song and musical number

Ritefuyo Shirokō usually thought she would go to heaven upon death, that was really her only reason for living, the knowledge that in the end, if she didn’t give into her darker thoughts, she’d be up in the clouds, rewarded for her struggle, and those that had been the cause of her struggle would be burning in Hell. And maybe you’d think that harbouring such selfish and arrogant thoughts would count as sin, but Ritefuyo firmly believed that nothing could be counted as a sin if you didn’t do or say it. 

Now though, well she’d never find out if she was right about that. And she still wasn’t sure if it was all her fault or not right now.

‘Well’ Charlie thought as she woke up early. ‘Today’s a new day.’ And a new day meant a fresh start, and a fresh start meant finding redemption for others.

Buuuut, Angel had already relapsed, on opening day, and no one but Vaggie believed in her cause meaning she had no guests who genuinely wanted to change meaning this would be really hard and it’s not like she expected things to go smoothly but still the current state of the Happy Hotel was depressing to say the least-

Why was the limo’s car alarm going off? And for exactly, how long?

“Dazzle, Razzle… did you try driving the car again?” She asked her two bodyguards, who shook their heads. Oooh, she had a bad feeling about this.

Taking a peek outside one of the windows revealed her now completely trashed limo. The thing was deader than dead, broken windows, slashed tires, covered in graffiti, ripped open and had cables missing and-did someone seriously take the steering wheel?!

Charlie groaned, she took a delicious looking plate of pancakes from Razzle, he was the king of breakfast foods, Dazzle was the king of Dinner, and took her phone out, calling up her girlfriend.

“Morning Hun, please don’t tell me we’re leaving for the Hotel already.” Vaggie groaned, sounding very much like she had just woken up.

“No, but you should probably get there sooner than you normally would, my car is… broken.” She really didn’t want to reveal the reason why yet, Vaggie was already stressed as it was. “So you’ll need to find a different way to get there today, sorry.”

“M’kay…” The moth demon yawned. “I’ll call a cab and stop by your place.”

‘Oh goodness please no!’ Charlie spit out her orange juice, slightly panicked. “I-I’m pretty far away Vag, and I don’t want you to have to pay for the ride here and to the hotel! Plus it’s a nice day out, day after the cleanse and all, I was planning to walk to the Hotel today anyways!~” she insisted.

Luckily a morning Vaggie was an extremely compliant and sleepy Vaggie, so there was no questioning or arguing to be dealt with, her girlfriend simply mumbled out ‘Alright, love you.’ And hung up.

Crisis averted! And a goal gained! A walk to the Hotel would be perfect to find potential guests! If she left right away she could spare time to talk to and convince anyone who might be hesitant about her cause!

Just… stay aware of the angry Demons that thought her idea was a personal insult, not like they’d hurt her, she had Razzle and Dazzle with her! 

Happy thoughts, Charlie, happy thoughts.

“Alright you two, ready to go and help the overpopulation problem one demon at a time?” She asked with a bright smile. The two winged goats nodded excitedly. Ah, she could always count on them.

So far… not good. Charlie had to physically hold Dazzle to keep him from charging someone who had thrown a half empty coffee cup at her as she walked down the street, and Razzle kicked a lady who called her some… unsavoury things, which of course, fed into the seemingly natural Demonic need to cause chaos.

Which was why Charlie was now taking the long way to the Hotel, through the Dump. The Dump gave Charlie the most hope, while also breaking said hope just as much, it was a typical location that new arrivals would appear at when entering Hell, some Demons took time out of their day to actually teach the poor confused souls about how their new world worked, others… well they took advantage of the lack of knowledge these new Demons had.

“Fucking physco bitch!” A demon grumbled as he ran past Charlie, covering his ears. “Oi!” He called. “Don’t bother tryin to work with that useless sack of fluff! She won’t stop screaming!”

Screaming? Oh, now she heard it. And boy did it sound heart rending.

Perfect.

“Razzle, Dazzle, it’s time for Operation New In Town!” Charlie whispered to her companions as she fixed her hair a little and puffed her chest up.

The target was kneeling on the ground, screaming as though she had the lungs of a whale. Her body was fluffy and shades of deep and calming red, she had thin insectoid wings, a pair of cone shaped growths that looked a little like cat ears, fuzzy antenna, three blunt claws on her stubby hands, and some of her fluff was longer than the rest and fell to the side, imitating hair. 

Definitely a moth Demon, though more Angel levels of noticeability than Vaggie levels.

Charlie tiptoed over to the still screaming demon-did she not have lungs anymore?- and kneeled down. “Hey, how are you feeling?” She asked softly.

The Demon looked up so fast her neck made a sickening snapping sound, she had two eyes, both silver in color. She looked at Charlie with a shaky not at all happy smile.

“I-I’m a naked fluffy thing in what I assume is Hell.” The Demon responded. “A-and after years of striving to go to Heaven it’s all for nothing because I was stupid and lost control of myself!” She pounded a fist into the ground. “God I’m such a fucking failure! Everyone was right I’m useless and-and-“ she became incoherent as she started to cry.

‘Oh she’s perfect!’ Charlie thought to herself, mentally doing a little victory dance while keeping herself as calm as possible. “Hey now… that’s not true.” She said in a comforting voice, patting the demon on the shoulder, wincing when said demon flinched away from her like she had set them on fire.

“You don’t know that!” The moth cried out. “You don’t even know what I did!”

“But you regret it, don’t you?”

“....” a look of conflicted confusion crossed the demons face. “I...I….” she looked at Charlie with scared and vulnerable eyes. “I-I don’t know. I mean, it was bad but…”

“Spur of the moment?” Charlie said.

“Huh?”

“It was a spur of the moment thing, wasn’t it? Wrong thing happened at the wrong time at the wrong place, a lapse of judgement caused by emotions.”

The demon looked to the side, but nodded as she hugged herself. “Yeah… I just… I’ve been trying so hard but the knife was right there and they were laughing and I just…” she looked at Charlie, her eyes suddenly very hollow. “Realized I had power.”

“It’s not the end of the world, no need to call yourself names…” Charlie said. “Sure you’re in Hell… but you aren’t stuck here.”

“I...I’m not?” 

“Course not!” Charlie took the demon’s hands and lifted her up. “I mean if you make up for your mistakes and strive to be a good person, you’ll be Heavenbound before you know it!”

“But… but I killed people! An-and some of them didn’t even do anything to me! I just, I lost it! And then I killed myself! I’m the worst kind of murderer! The worst kind of person! I’m a coward and I’m worthless!”

“Listen…” Charlie began, as Razzle and Dazzle pulled musical instruments out of nowhere. 

“I’ve been in between a rock and a hard place  
I’ve been biting my tongue to save some face!” Charlie tapped her foot on the ground as she held the wayward souls hand.

“I should be over this, but I’m not quite there yet,  
It’ll take some time and I’ll be fine moving ahead.” Uncertainly, the moth demon began to follow Charlie’s movements, “Yes, yes! That’s it!” Charlie cheered.

“Not sure where I’m going, only time will tell us  
The fear of never knowing finally bit the dust-/  
I’d rather be my own friend than my worst enemy  
I’m one day closer to being who I wanna be”

As she continued the demon tentatively joined in. 

“La de da de da de da deee  
Mmmmm  
I know I know I know who I’d rather be”

Now the dancing was getting more confident, more active. 

“There are nights when I lay awake and restless  
Wondering if letting go was for the best  
It’s scary then, it’s scary now, as I move on  
Rain ends the drought, the sun comes out, it won’t be long”

As the chorus kicked in Charlie slowly let the demon take the lead, and the next lyrics she sang on her own.

“Could we pause it for a sec,  
And put it into retrospect,” She still sounded uncertain and nervous, looking at Charlie for encouragement. Charlie smiled brightly and nodded. 

“I had my good intent,  
But the dreams, turned into dreamt  
Where I was content  
Turned into resent” Now her voice had confidence and her dancing took its own style.

“There was a point where I was convinced that suffering  
Made it better  
When I hit rock bottom, it’s difficult to remember  
Why I had to write this song”

Charlie rejoined with the chorus.

“Oh uwoh, oh uwoh oh,  
Oh uwoh, oh uwoh oh,”

The two spun around, each stretching an arm out as they slowed to a stop.

“I’d rather be my own best friend than my worst enemy” The moth demons sang.

“I’m one day closer to being who I wanna be!” Charlie finished.

For a moment, the two girls stood still, catching their breath, and though the demon didn’t smile, she looked sufficiently more cheered up than before.

“How… how did you do that?” The moth asked, eyes shining.

“Life’s a musical when I’m around.” Charlie replied with a wink.

The demon blinked, then chuckled. “This feels like a fever dream, one minute I’m sobbing on the ground the next I’m singing a song I’ve never heard with someone I don’t even know the name of.”

“I’m Charlie, manager of the Happy Hotel, a place where Demons can come to turn their life around.” She bowed. 

“I’m Shirokō Ritefuyo, and I’d… really like to come to your hotel.” The demon finally gave her name. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you! I was just on my way there, so let’s walk together, I can teach you about what it’s like down here on the way!” Charlie offered her hand, and Ritefuyo took it.

“So first off, Demons normally don’t go by their living name, typically they go by a new name or a nickname, and that’s because…”


	2. Bubblegum Bitch

“Charlie-san… I thought you said this was the Happy Hotel…” Ritefuyo questioned as the two girls got closer to said hotel.

Charlie quirked an eyebrow. “Yeah I did, what’s the confusion?”

“It… it says Hazbin Hotel.” She pointed at the sign.

Charlie looked up, paused, took some very deep breaths, and smiled.

“It’s okay, just my business partner Alastor having a little fun~” she said cheerfully. “I’ll talk to him later, no need to worry.”

“And what about the lady kicking a person in front of the hotel?”

“The what.”

Just as Ritefuyo had said, a reddish brown anthropomorphic deer demon with a single traffic light colored eye, pinkish white hair, and wheels on her feet/hooves(???) dressed in muted light purples, was kicking a brutish looking individual in the gut with lots of force. She also appeared to be faux swearing.

“Jane! Jane stop what are you doing?!” Charlie called, running over, Ritefuyo followed.

‘Jane’ ceased her attack, by slamming a hoof onto her targets side in order to keep them in place, and turned to look at Charlie, she didn’t seem angry or annoyed at her however.

“I found this donkey trying to graffiti the walls of the hotel!” She explained. “And after I’m done with him I’m gonna find whoever had the gall to damage the hotel and change the sign and make them pay!”

Charlie sighed, pulling the deer demon away from her victim, allowing him to escape. “Jane, I know you want to protect the hotel, but that doesn’t mean it’s okay to beat up anyone who has a minor problem with us.” She explained.

Jane huffed, crossing her arms. “Well we can’t just let them walk all over us…” she sighed. “But, you are my friend and my boss, so I shall refrain from any violent actions towards those that seek to defile this place.”

“Thank you Jane, oh! I have a lot to tell you since you were missing yesterday!” Charlie clapped her hands together. “Where were you anyways?”

“Oh well, you know… the cleanse kinda made it hard to get around and I kinda got caught up in stuff.” She explained, then turned her attention to Ritefuyo. “Who’s this?”

“Oh!” Charlie smiled. “This is-“

“Red Velvet Cake, or Velvet for short.” Ritefuyo cut in, offering a hand.

Jane smiled and shook it. “Jane Doe, the Happy Hotel’s accountant. Are you a guest?”

“Yup! And she’s new here!” Charlie explained, happy that the two seemed to be getting along. “Have you met. Angel yet?”

“No I have not, I arrived only a few moments ago.”

“Angel?” Velvet questioned.

“Angel Dust, he’s another guest at the hotel… in fact he’s… kinda our only other guest besides you as of now!” Charlie laughed nervously. “He’s been clean for 2 weeks… but he relapsed yesterday...unfortunately.” She looked a little dejected.

“Chin up Charlie.” Jane said. “Nobody’s gonna change overnight, and setbacks, relapse, and whatnot are to be expected.” 

“Right.” She was smiling again. “Come on, let’s introduce you both to Angel Dust!” 

‘God this bed sucks ass.’ Angel thought as he finished up his morning routine, he slept like shit last night, even with the booze. Least he didn’t have a hangover. 

As he looked in the mirror, and smirked. “Guess blondie really is desperate if she’s letting me stay after yesterday, talk about a pushover.” He chuckled.

The way too loud chime of a bell signified someone had entered the hotel.

Angel glanced at his phone, but once he heard Charlie calling him, he took his time coming down.

In the lobby stood two demons he had never met before, one of them smelled like cake. He couldn’t really tell if they were staff or guests, not that he cared.

“Good morning Angel~” Charlie greeted him cheerily as ever, those weird tiny goat demons she had were with her this time, what were their names again? “Did you sleep well?”

Angel let out a chuckle. “As well as ya can get on the beds here, who’re these two?” He gave the two demons a once over, the deer like one was taller than him, and the moth like one was pretty average sized, well human average sized. 

“You didn’t get to meet her because some complications came up yesterday, but this is Jane Doe! She’s the hotel’s accountant and she’ll also be living here from now on.” Charlie gestured to the deer demon.

‘Fuck.’ Angel thought, but didn’t let his disappointment show. “Nice ta meet ya, Traffic Lights!”

Jane didn’t seem to bothered by the nickname, which was boring. “Nice to meet you too, Angel Dust, should you need my assistance just ask.”

“And this-“ Charlie excitedly pointed to the cake smelling moth demon. “-is Red Velvet Cake! She’s a new arrival in Hell AND a guest here!”

Angel blinked, looking the rather nervous looking new arrival up and down. ‘I know looks can be deceiving, I’m proof of that, but this little thing is a demon? And she decided to name herself something as ridiculous as that?! She really must be new!’ Now that he thought about it, it made sense why she would become a guest so easily. Newbies still had quite a bit of morality in them, many of them spent a good amount of time all bummed out cause they didn’t make it to Heaven.

“Hi….” Velvet spoke shakily, looking nervous. 

“Sup Cakepop, whatcha here for?” Angel shook her hand and smiled, noting how she seemed to back away slightly and flinch. Ah, probably a murder suicide or accident, those types are real quiet and anxious.

“I uh… I… what-what are you in for, Candy Cane?” She countered, and really it was pathetic but she was new so Angel gave her points for trying.

“Me? Well…” He took a step back, Cakepop sure as hell didn’t have any money, but Traffic Lights definitely did, so it wouldn’t hurt to play himself up.

“I Got a figure like a pin-up, got a figure like a doll  
Don't care if you think I'm dumb, I don't care at all  
Candy bear, sweetie pie, wanna be adored  
I'm the guy you'd die for~” He outstretched two sets of his arms and pushed up his fluff with the third set. 

Charlie looked excited, while the other two looked very confused.

“I'll chew you up and I'll spit you out  
'Cause that's what young love is all about” He shimmied up to Traffic Lights, who frowned.

“So pull me closer and kiss me hard  
I'm gonna pop your bubblegum heart!” At that she shoved him away, fuck. Well, he couldn’t stop now, else he’d look like a right idiot. Cakepop looked like she’d be easy to drag in, play it off like a fun little introduction.

“I'm Mistah Sugar Pink, liquor, liquor lips  
Hit me with your sweet love, steal me with a kiss” Angel marched over to her, noticing her eyes widen. 

“I'm Mistah Sugar Pink, liquor, liquor lips  
I'm gonna be your bubblegum bitch  
I'm gonna be your bubblegum bitch!” He learned down and booped Cakepop on the nose.

Before she could say anything he grabbed her with six arms and swung her around.

“Queentex, latex, I'm your wonder maid  
Life gave me some lemons so I made some lemonade  
Soda pop, soda pop, baby, here I come  
Straight to number one” She was pretty easy to move around, a little ragdoll-y, but hey, he couldn’t blame her, he was a fucking delight!

“Oh, dear diary, I met a boy  
He made my doll heart light up with joy  
Oh, dear diary, we fell apart  
Welcome to the life of Electra Heart-“

“Oh my god did you hear? She’s doing compensation dating!”

“She must be desperate!”

“Or stupid, we’re in University, not high school, everyone knows those lonely fucks don’t go for University girls!”

More conversations and murmuring and loud pop music coming out of a shitty radio filled the air, the world around Angel shifted and melted from hotel lobby to crowded party room, talk about trippy.

“The fuck-HEY!” He shouted as Cakepop shoved him away, she stumbled and fell on her butt, covering where her ears would be with her hands and trembling.

“Angel!” Charlie scolded.

“Hey! I didn’t do shit!” He huffed, crossing all his arms and pouting.

Charlie knelt down in front of Cakepop. “Velvet are you okay?! I’m so sorry I-“

“GET AWAY FROM ME!” Cakepop shouted, violently shoving Charlie away, nearly knocking her onto her back.

For a while the three looked on in silence as the weird hallucinations faded in and out, unsure of what to do.

Traffic Lights sighed, making a ‘tsk’ sound and she walked over to Cakepop. “I’ll handle this, s’probably just a panic attack mixed with her powers. I'll take her to a room and let her calm down, better private than in the dang lobby.” She said as she picked Cakepop up like a princess, ignoring her yelling and desperate attempts to escape and making way for the stairs.

“You saw that too, right?” Angel asked after the acid trip left the station. Charlie nodded, looking a little stressed, the little goat demons looked at each other, worried.

“I… yeah I did… sorry Angel. This is on me, I should’ve known better.” She smiled. “Don’t worry about it, Velvet’s nice, once she calms down, I'm sure you two’ll become best friends!”

Angel HIGHLY doubted that, but he didn’t feel like ruining Charlie’s day, so he simply nodded.

“Ya want some leftovers from last night?” He asked.

“Sure, Al made a lot! Ooooh~ Dazzle I think you’ll really enjoy it, come on!” She skipped off to the kitchen, her little demon friends following close behind as Angel took his time.

“A-choo!” Velvet sneezed, finally coming to her senses in an… incredibly dusty room? How… how did she end up here? Did she pass out? She rubbed the tears from her face, wait why was it brown? And smell sweet?

She looked at her hand, noticing a few specks of white in the brown liquid, it was the same color as her claws…

She licked it, her face scrunching up in confusion at the fact that it tasted like melted dark chocolate with sea salt. What?! She sucked on a claw, it tasted like dark chocolate as well, minus the sea salt. 

She… she smelled like sweets and cake! Velvet shot up and rushed over to the nearest mirror, which was a fully body one. This was the first time she was getting a look at herself.

She was colored like her new namesake! Red Velvet Cake! All red except for her claws, wings, and eyes. Opening her mouth she found the inside white like vanilla icing. A closer look at the fluff on her body revealed it to be some kind of confetti, like what you would see on a piñata. And an even closer look in the mirror revealed to her that her silver eyes and white wings were made of sugar glass.

She pressed a hand to the mirror, mouth agape. Wasn’t this hell? Why was she some sort of cartoon creature?! She was made of food for crying out loud! She was a goddamn cake filled piñata!

Her mind began to swim, this was all too much!

“Buck!” Jane called out, down the hallway behind the room’s door. “I told you not to bother her! Get back here!”

Someone knocked on her door, and, desperate to escape the incoming breakdown, Velvet opened it.

She craned her neck up to see the yellow toothed shark smile of a red demon person.

“Hello my dear!” His voice sounded like it was coming out of radio, how was he DOING THAT?! “I’m Alastor, co-manager of this lovely hotel! I heard you caused a little scene in the lobby a few hours ago, and well, I just couldn’t wait to meet you-“

“How are you making your voice do that and can you teach me to do it?” Velvet cut him off.

He lifted an eyebrow. “Pardon?”

“The-the radio voice! How are you doing that? It’s amazing!” Her eyes twinkled. “Can-can ALL demons do that? It’s SO cool!”

“Oh? A fan of voice effects are you?” Alastor asked, Velvet shook her head.

“No, I adore podcasts and listening to radio shows!” She told him. “It’s such an interesting form of media-“

“BUCK!” Jane yelled, nearly screwering Alastor with a spear.

“Now now Ms. Doe, let’s not do anything rash~” Alastor dodged with ease. “And it’s quite rude of you to interrupt me when I’m introducing myself to our newest guest. Who I still have not gotten the name of.” He looked at Velvet expectantly.

“I’m Red Velvet Cake, or just… Velvet for short.” She held out a hand. “It’s… it’s very nice to meet you Alastor-san.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The best song to have a panic attack is Bubblegum Bitch by Marina & The Diamonds~
> 
> I also just realized that so far the songs have mirrored the pilot with the first being sung to the end and the second being interrupted by some sort of power!
> 
> I didn’t mean to do that but OKAY!


	3. Anything You Can Do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song in this chapter is (a modified version of) Anything You Can Do from the musical Annie Get Your Gun! I’ve never seen the musical, but this song is a classic to me, perfect for any good pair of rivals to sing! Comments are VERY much appreciated, no matter how long or short they are!

As Velvet made her way down the stairs to the lobby, with Alastor and Jane at her heels, she felt her heart stutter and stop upon seeing a bar counter, so much so that she didn’t even comprehend the demon manning said bar counter until Alastor spoke again.

“Ah! Good morning Husk! Have you met our newest guest?” Alastor called out to the magician looking winged cat, though Velvet was unaware of what was going on. The sound of static that could only come from an old radio accompanied by a voice put through a microphone set her mind and body at ease. She stopped in place, relaxing her tense shoulders and closed her eyes, on habit she moved her hands to where her headphones would be to press them closer to her ears, and even then it took a few seconds for her to realize that she was NOT in her room listening to old radio shows on a rainy day with her beloved headphones. 

She blinked, confusion settling in her mind as she looked around, her body naturally tensing again as she became consciously aware of the people around her. Her antenna stood straight, her shoulders rigid, hands in fists that clenched just a little too tight, and her mouth held a line that was neither a frown nor a smile. Even her wings had pressed against her back, almost quivering in an effort to stay still. 

When she saw everyone staring at her she quickly ducked her head, looking quite apologetic as she spoke her next words.

“Ah, sorry, I zoned out.” She said, trying to focus on the demon cat staring at her and NOT the ungodly amounts of alcohol. 

“Names Husk, I run the front desk and bar.” He spoke gruffly, Velvet didn’t like that. 

“And I’m Niffty!” A small one eyed woman zipped over to Velvet, smiling almost psychotically, Velvet stepped back, accidentally bumping into someone else.

“Ah-I-sorry!” She whipped around, fully ready to get on her hands and knees and beg for forgiveness.

“Oh hey, same hat.” The eyepatched demon said with an amused smile, Velvet cocked her head in confusion. She wasn’t wearing a hat, neither was the girl speaking.

But, she felt a strange connection to the girl, not of the emotional or physical variant, no. But it was… a kinship? Perhaps this was the feeling of seeing someone who you knew enjoyed the same things as you? 

“You’re a moth.” Velvet said dumbly.

“Vaggie, I’m also a member of the staff.” Vaggie said. “And yes, I am. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen another moth myself.” Moth demons were an odd sort, like the real life animal, they were naturally drawn to light, and because of that they were often outcast for not giving themselves up completely to the dark pleasures of Hell. 

It also didn’t help that Angels seemed to have a mesmerizing effect on them, making them easy targets during cleanses. 

“V-Velvet. Nice to meet you Vaggie-san.” Was this what it was like to know someone? On a friendly and personal level? How odd, she couldn’t even feel unnerved by the fact that she had only just met this person. Yet, she trusted her greatly. It was scary.

“Are you feeling better?” Charlie asked, her sudden appearance made Velvet jolt.

It took a few seconds for Velvet to speak, but when she did she nodded. “Yes, I am. I’m sorry I had no idea what came over me.”

“Don’t worry about it, I was impressed you handled yourself so well.”

“Pardon?”

“You’ve been amazing so far! So don’t let a little panic attack get you down.” Charlie smiled kindly.

“What’s a panic attack?” Velvet asked.

Everyone looked at her, and she felt like cutting off her tongue and eating it.

“Oh boy… This is going to be a little rough…” Jane sighed, causing Alastor to chuckle.

“Throwing in the towel so soon, Ms. Doe?” He asked, causing the Traffic demon to glare at him.

“I never said anything related to that, besides…” she folded her arms. “It’s not like you could do better, Buck.” The way she said the last word, Buck, held quite a bit of annoyance, distaste, and a smidge of teasing. Velvet, as usual, was left lost to the intricacies of social interaction.

“Is this your way of passing off any task that requires intelligence to me so you don’t look bad?” Oh. 

“I’m simply pointing out that you lack the necessary qualities to even simply explain what a panic attack is properly, no need to project.” OH.

“It’s a rather simple thing to explain, really. You think far too much Ms. Doe. You ought to take a break, your brain is surely running on fumes from how you’re working it.” She knew this. “No need to feel ashamed, it’s easy to get tired when doing something new.”

“I suppose that would explain why you always have so much energy, Buck.” Jane smirked. “You always play it safe, easy. Why I dare say that a task requiring even the smallest bit of genuine emotion would leave you breathless in a second.” Velvet knew this very well.

“It’s only easy because I’m so good at what I do. Oh! I see…” Alastor sauntered over to Jane, an amused grin on his face, one that spoke of a sure to be well received joke. “Are you perhaps… jealous of me?” He said with fake shock. “Oh Jane I’m flattered.”

Jane raised an eyebrow, looking positively amused. “Jealous? Have you hit your head? What a ridiculous notion!” She barked out a laugh. “You always carry yourself with such a heavy ego Buck, how does it not give you back pains?”

“Perhaps it’s because I have the strength to back up my ‘ego.’”

The Doe giggled. “Oh Buck, I thought you old enough to be done with make believe. But yet again, you prove me wrong in such delightfully disappointing ways!” She shook her head. “Tell me, are you still rattling off ‘five foot rule’ whenever someone comes near?” She took a step forward, barely not invading Alastor’s personal space.

“Don’t tell me you still find boundaries archaic?” His tone took a degree in annoyance. “It’s always your way or the highway.” This only made Jane laugh harder.

“Have I been bewitched?” She asked in wonder, looking at herself as though some big change had occurred. “Or perhaps an illusion has been placed upon me?” She twirled with a sly smile. “I do not paint myself a target, yet you have gone and mistaken me for you! Oh! But we’re deriving from our original topic, how thoughtless.”

“Why that’s simply the nature of the flow of conversion, my dear.” Alastor used his cane to push Jane away, she snickered and moved it to the side.

“Oh yes, now it’s clear! You’ve finally seen the truth!” She clapped her hands.

“The truth?” Alastor questioned.

“That anything YOU can do, I can do better!” Jane sang. “Oh, I can do anything better than you~”

“No you can’t.” Alastor rolled his eyes.

“Oh yes I can!” Jane countered.

“You certainly cannot.”

“But I most certainly can!”

“You most definitely cannot!”

“Yes I can, oh yes I can!”

Alastor stepped around Jane. “Oh Ms. Doe.” He cooed.

“Anything you can be, I can be greater,  
Sooner or later I’m greater than you.” He exclaimed proudly. Music began to crackle from nonexistent radios.

“No you aren’t!” Jane shook a finger at him.

“I am!”

“Absolutely not!”

“Absolutely am!”

“You never will!”

“And yet I am, yes I am!”

Where they fighting or singing?

“I can shoot a partridge, with a single cartridge!” He boasted. 

“I can down an Angel, with a single arrow!” Jane proclaimed.

“I can live on just bread and cheese!”

“What, only on that?” Jane looked unimpressed.

“Of course!”

“Well so can a rat.” She shrugged.

“Any note you can reach, I can go higher!”

“I can sing anything much higher than you!”

“No you can’t!” 

“Yes I can!”

“No you can’t!” Their volumes increased.

“Yes I can!”

“No you can’t!” It sounded like he was taunting her.

“Yes I can!” And it was hard to tell if she was falling for it or simply humouring him. 

“No you can’t!”

“YES I CAN!” Velvet instinctively attempted to cover her ears.

“Well I can drink my liquor faster than a flicker!” What a horrible thing to boast.

“I can drink it quicker, without getting sicker!” Just as bad.

“I can open any safe~”

“Without being caught?” Jane scoffed.

“But of course!” 

“Of course, you’re a crook!”

As the two deer demons continued to... sing? Argue? Singargue? Everyone else backed away, Charlie had to grab Velvets arm to get her to step back.

“So uh, they always like that?” Angel asked.

“How should I know, I’ve never met this girl before!” Vaggie growled.

“I didn’t know they knew each other…” Charlie looked a little worried.

“So… what IS a panic attack?” Velvet asked, coughing into her hand, an attempt to change the subject.

“Here I found an explanation on my phone.” Angel replied, shoving the screen into the new girls face.

“Wait, there’s a name for this?!” What the hell?! No one ever told her this!

Vaggie realized this would be another very long day.


	4. Je T’aime

By the time night began to creep into the hotel, Velvet felt both relieved and stressed. The reality of her situation was beginning to settle in her mind, and the new information that apparently many things that she had once thought were signs of her broken, had names and to some extent, were normal. Anxiety, depression, PTSD, having words to label her issues gave the moth a sense of comfort. 

There was something that bothered her, well bothered her more than other things at the moment, and that was the smiles. Angel, Niffty, Charlie, and Alastor consistently kept a smile on their faces, hell she had not seen Alastor frown once so far!

It was… unnerving. The fact that anyone could smile around others in Hell was incredibly disturbing… and perhaps, a little frustrating too…

“What’s with the long face?” Alastor asked, appearing behind Velvet. However, it did not reward him with his desired results.

The nervous sinner took a moment to register his words, and relaxed, of all things, before turning to face him. A frown still on her face.

“Oh, it’s just how I am.” She replied, neutral in tone, as she clasped her hands together. “Some people have resting bitch face, I’ve got resting downer face.” 

“Well turn that frown upside down,” Alastor swung an arm over her shoulder. “You’re in the best possible company, I assure you!” He noted how she nearly began to tense up, before relaxing her body more. Tiptoeing the line of nearly resting against his side. 

“It’s… it’s nothing like that. I just don’t smile.” Velvet insisted, looking to the side to admire a stain glass window.

“You don’t smile? Period?” He quirked an eyebrow, and only looked more amused when Velvet nodded.

“It’s just not something I do, unless I’m laughing of course, but I wouldn’t count that as a smile. But if you were to, then I guess I’ve never consciously smiled on purpose.” She spoke casually, as though in the presence of a good friend.

“You know, you’ve never fully dressed without a smile~” The radio demon said in a sing-song voice.

Velvet looked up at him, something akin to a twinkle of amusement in her eyes… yet her mouth didn’t tilt up right an inch.

“I’m not even half dressed as it is.” She noted, not particularly bothered by the fact. The layer of fluffy confetti did a good job of keeping her warm and not exposed.

“True, why even Husk has a bow tie and a hat, yet you don’t have a single thing on you.” His words finally brought her a sense of discomfort, and she showed it by hugging her arms and looking to the floor. 

“Should I?” She asked quietly.

“Pardon? You’re going to need to speak up dear.” Alastor pulled her a little closer, good golly was she soft.

“Should I? Wear something, that is. I’m not entirely familiar with the dress code here.”

“Weeellll…” Alastor twirled his staff in his free hand, purposefully drawing out the wait. Her eyes gave away the slow but steady nervousness and embarrassment she felt with each passing second. “There’s no rule against it, but most demons wear at least one accessory on their person. Smaller demons are typically the only kind that go completely nude.” He explained. “Oh! Did I make you self conscious?” 

“.....” Velvet didn’t answer, in fact she looked down at the floor, her antenna wilted slightly. “Just a bit.” She finally admitted. 

“My apologies Ms. Cake, that wasn’t my intent at all! Do you have any preferences? I’ll make sure you have something to wear come tomorrow.” She seemed like a sweater kind of girl, perhaps one that wore flower pins.

“If it’s not a bother… then… perhaps a hair clip with a crescent moon on it?” The Moth rubbed her arm. “My uh… hair? Fur? Fur hair? It sometimes gets in my eyes so having something to keep it in place with would be nice.”

“And why a crescent moon?” Alastor prodded.

“Why that’s because it is my favourite type of night sky.” This time she looked Alastor in the eye, unafraid. Her voice gave hint to a soft admiration and fondness.

“Is that so?” 

Velvet nodded, and politely moving out of Alastor’s grip, walking to a window. She fiddled with it for a moment before it opened. When it did she looked at him expectantly.

Alastor shrugged and walked over to her, staring out the window.

“I’m afraid we don’t have nights like those dear.” He said. “During the night and the day the skies are bright red, and the moon has a blazing pentagram on it… and Heaven taunts us from the sky with its holy glow.” He used a hand to make a grasping gesture at the soft white sphere. 

“That’s fine.” Velvet spoke, resting her hands on the windowsill and looking up fondly. Alastor gave her a curious look, silently urging her to explain. 

“I might not be able to see it anymore, but I can still hear it, feel it, experience it. That’s good enough for me.”

“Is that so? You don’t fear that you’ll lose your memory of what your beloved sky looked like?”

“Not at all, I don’t like it simply because of how it looks.” She explained. “It’s the feeling, while I might not have the darkness and the twinkling stars and bright moon, that ‘holy glow’ as you call it, works just the same against the red of the sky. It’s a minor change, the feeling and sounds are still there. That’s what’s important.”

“Enlighten me.” Alastor asked, but anyone who knew him would know it was an order.

“There’s something… mystical… about the night. It’s when the stealthy and the fearful of the animal kingdom come out, they muffle their footsteps and only allow for the brief rustling of foliage to ring out. The insects chip on occasion, and the owls call out. But it’s all… slow… lazy yet not. No rush, no rumble. Just a quiet that lacks loneliness, and that’s a wonderful thing in my opinion.” She didn’t smile, but her eyes gave her joy away.

“Hm.” Was all Alastor said.

“I take it you enjoy the hustle and bustle of day, am I right?”

“Well it’s no fun at all when the stage is devoid of actors.” He hummed a little tune. 

“I don’t know, something about an empty stage is inviting. No pressure, no expectations, no eyes, just you and a non existent audience you decide whether or not to play for.” 

“Were you a performer? A singer perhaps?” Alastor inquired. In a way, he could see her as a singer, not a modern one, the demon next to him was much too meek for that, no instead he saw a woman who would hide behind a microphone, a true singer, in his opinion. One who doesn’t need dance moves or visuals to capture an audience.

Velvet snickered, and Alastor wished the tilt of her mouth stayed up instead of going down when she was done. “Oh no, I’m much too shy for that. I was a florist… part time, I uh… well I used to be in university. Second year to be exact.” Her eyes dulled at the reminder of her past.

“Hm, well. It’s getting late, I suggest turning in before Ms. Doe comes and drags you off to bed herself.” The deer demon joked, stepping away.

“Oh…” She sounded… almost sad? At the loss of his company, even though he had not yet left. She turned to him, hands clasped behind her back, rocking on the tips of her feet. “Well, goodnight Alastor-san, it was nice talking to you. Sleep well.” 

“Goodnight Velvet, sweet dreams, don’t let the bed demons bite.” He laughed a little and walked away.

Once out of sight he melted into the shadows, creeping back to where the cake demon was. Curiosity drove him to seek out what was behind the mask she wore so naturally. Did she smile only when no one watched? Did she enjoy the thrill of lying about how she felt right to the faces of others?

There she stood, not yet having closed the window. No instead she looked out of it for a few more moments, before closing it with a sigh.

She looked around, this was it! And when she was sure no one was listening, she took a deep breath, relaxing… Here he would see what she denied him!

“Je t'aime, je t'aime toujour  
I am forever yours..” Her voice was so soft, elegant in tone, and almost ghostly. If not for her bright colours, Alastor could’ve suspected her a phantom what with her frown and song voice.

“Sweet dreams, sweet dreams mon cher  
You're always in my prayer,” Velvet began to slowly walk down the hallway, and Alastor followed.

“Softly, sweetly  
Wrapped up in heaven's arms  
Sailing, soaring over the moon  
Gathering star dust,” She made no grand gestures, no fancy footwork.

“Be still, be safe, be sure  
Je t'aime, je t'aime toujour,” Yet the emotion and intent of the song was clear as day.

“Wishing, praying  
All of your dreams come true  
Please remember  
Where'er you are my heart is with you,” She looked-looked?! At Alastor, no no surely not. The Radio Demon was positive that he was hidden perfectly, she must’ve simply taken an interest in something on the wall!

“Sweet dreams, sweet dreams mon cher  
Always in my prayer,” Yet that did not stop his… some part of him from assuming, no, assuring him that she was singing to him. FOR him.

“I am forever yours  
Je t'aime, je t'aime toujour…” Alastor stood in place as Velvet walked away, her voice humming a tune that grew softer the further she got.

Ah, this feeling…

She was a sly one, pretending to be so meek and helpless, almost fooling even him! Alastor was quite impressed. No one had lied to his face so confidently before, and she had the nerve to sing a song for him! 

It was a lovely song… a taunting one. ‘Don’t you want to be in my vision?’ The hidden message was clear. ‘To have my eternal companionship gifted to you so kindly.’ So very clear. ‘If you came out from the shadows, I’d give you it.’ Trying to make him submit to her. 

Laughable. Completely and utterly laughable. A simple little piece of new meat, so very tender, was trying to undermine him? The Radio Demon? One of-no, THE most powerful force in Hell? Like a lamb walking into a lion's den, confident that her adorable charm would crush the lion’s natural hunger.

Foolish, what a foolish woman. He would have to see how she reacted to failure, but not right away, oh no. He would do what she had done to him, keep the answer dangling juuust out of her reach, neither confirming or denying anything. He would watch her struggle and stress…

And he would enjoy every second of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapters song is Je T’aime by Kelly Sweet, a wonderfully haunting Lullaby song that my friend NotBrooke recommended to me.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Two in one day! I’m on a role! But, what do you think dear reader? Is Al right? Or is he full of hot air? I’d like to hear your thoughts.


End file.
